by Rob Kempton, BMA Staff
I can recall many instances when museumgoers looked at Emmanuel Massillon’s “Mud Libation” (RIP Fredo Santana) with curiosity, admiration, and awe. This hip-hop-inspired sculpture commands attention: viewers are dwarfed by it. I overheard a visitor ask, “Is it coffee?” referring to the doubled Styrofoam cups perched on the dirt that Massillon had meticulously arranged.
In 2024, when the work was on display, Massillon visited the Museum with his family days before the winter holiday. His face beamed with pride as he spoke with visitors about “Mud Libation”—and he stood there most of the day, describing his work and experiences. When visitors learned he was the artist of this impressive work, they swiftly grabbed their phones to capture this chance encounter with him.
Massillon spoke of his life growing up in Washington, D.C., and how opioid problems pervaded his community. For him, the sculpture is a cautionary tale about the dangers of opioid addiction. The late hip-hop artist Fredo Santana, to whom the sculpture is dedicated, died from an opioid-induced seizure, as Massillon notes in an Instagram post.
The work’s label lacked interpretation; however, this omission allowed viewers to form their own reactions to the piece. To me, Massillon’s sculpture is a homage to hip-hop. The two Styrofoam cups stacked on top of each other allude to a time when hip-hop artists would fill such cups with an opioid concoction of Sprite and codeine—known as Lean. Having listened to DJ Screw’s ethereal slowed-down mixtapes, I felt a personal connection to “Mud Libation (RIP Fredo Santana)”; I heard beats while gazing at it. Like Santana, DJ Screw died from opioid complications.
Here, laid bare, is a direct reference to the act of “pouring one out”—when mourners pour their beverage on the ground in remembrance of the dead. It is as if the steady stream of mud being poured from the cups has been paused and slowed down, as dirt flows back into dirt.
It reminded me of the cycle of life, how precious our time here is.
